Zsh: The last shell you will ever need
Introduction Last week, the all-knowing Mako inspired me to give zsh a shot. He started me off with a .zshrc file, and now a week later, I’ve been spreading the word to as many people as I ca…
Working on It (TextMate)
Over the past two years, posts on this blog have slowed to just a trickle, and a number of TextMate users have asked about TextMate’s status, or publicly worried about its future. This blog post, the first I’ve written here in a long time, is an attempt to assuage those concerns and answer some of the most frequent…
How we use IRC at Last.fm
Everyone that works at Last.fm is typically connected to our IRC server. We have different channels per team, as well as a company-wide channel, and a few channels dedicated to automated monitoring.
Adieu google
The first thing I searched for in Google, back in 1999, was probably "linux", followed by my name.
Gmail: Send mail from another address without "on behalf of"
Posted by Emmanuel Pellereau, Software Engineer Quite a few of you use Gmail's custom "From:" to send messages with one of your other email...
The Ultimate Website Launch Checklist
About to launch a new website? Make sure that you have covered all bases with this comprehensive checklist you can't be without.
Programmer search engine
For as long as I’ve been in the industry, which is, I think, about 74 years now, the problem I’ve had with hiring programmers was not interviewing them or deciding if they’re smart—it’s been findin…
How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King)
Well, it was really more like 17 weeks, but who's counting. ;) First, I'll give the punchline.
Schneier on Security: Software Problems with a Breath Alcohol Detector
This is an excellent lesson in the security problems inherent in trusting proprietary software: After two years of attempting to get the computer based source code for the Alcotest 7110 MKIII-C, defense counsel in State v. Chun were successful in obtaining the code, and had it analyzed by Base One Technologies, Inc…
SEO FAQ (or why you shouldn't hire an SEO "expert")
So yesterday I had a bit of a rant about SEO and I’ve gotten a few common questions so I thought I’d try to answer them. Here goes.
Let's Stop Talking About "Backups"
Is your desktop backed up? Did you backup that server? Are your backups on a different machine? Do you have offsite backups? All good questions, all best practices. But let’s stop talking about “ba…
Google releases a Chrome extension to identify web app performance problems
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Fixed-Schedule Productivity, what is it?
My Schedule Should Be Terrible… I should have an overwhelming, Malox-guzzling, stress-saturated schedule. Here’s why: I’m a graduate student in a demanding program. I’m working ... Read more
How we reduced chargebacks by 30% (as a percentage of sales)
We’ve never had a lot of chargebacks (a chargeback is when a customer calls their credit card company to dispute a charge they don’t recognize), but last year we made a simple change that reduced our chargebacks by 30% as a percentage of sales. I can’t be certain the reduction …